Our employment team has some great news that we want to share with you…
The 2026 edition of The Legal 500 - the authoritative guide to the UK's leading law firms - has just been published and we are proud to announce that our employment team has retained its status as a top tier law firm for employment services.
The Legal 500 is essentially the clients' guide to the best law firms in the UK and is widely regarded as offering a definitive judgement of law firm capabilities. The guide ranks firms into tiers, with tier 1 being the highest ranking. We are thrilled that Howes Percival's employment team has once again achieved tier 1 status.
Our top tier rating is a great endorsement for the employment team (and the firm as a whole) and we would like to thank our clients for supporting us in achieving this level of success!
In relation to our team, The Legal 500 says:
A ‘top-quality regional firm with city credentials’, Howes Percival LLP is lauded for its ’wide scope of capabilities and expertise in all areas’ of employment law. Leveraging the bench strength of the employment team’s regional spread, the group is able to advise a wide range of local, national, and international clients on tribunal matters, redundancies and restructuring, TUPE issues, restrictive covenants, and senior executive exits. Praised by clients for its ‘practical and pragmatic’ approach, Howes Percival LLP’s expertise encompasses complex tribunal claims, TUPE issues and restructuring matters.
Paula Bailey heads up the practice from Leicester, leading on large-scale redundancy and restructuring issues with Graham Irons in Northampton. With a specific focus on the hospitality sector, Alex Payton is a key contact for handling complex dismissal and discrimination cases and senior exit negotiations. In Leicester, Nick Benton‘s broad scope of work includes legislative and staff compliance, and Sobia Ahmad works on complex tribunal claims for high-profile clients.
The Milton Keynes team is headed by Simon deMaid, a key contact for clients in the retail, automotive, manufacturing, education, and healthcare sectors, who boasts deep expertise in disability discrimination claims, large-scale redundancies and restructures, and high-value executive terminations. Hannah Pryce, a seasoned advocate within the Employment Tribunal, delivers workplace training on equality, diversity, and inclusion, and advises on complex HR issues, including anti-bullying, harassment prevention, and strategic crisis management.
Howes Percival LLP‘s Cambridge office is a key location for the firm’s employment law offering, and is an especially strong choice for employment tribunal litigation. Practice head Matthew Potter has a great deal of employment tribunal experience and assists with large-scale TUPE transfers, as well as advising on restructurings. Jonathan Mumby’s clients include national charities and independent retailers, and Lilika Peutherer is a further key contact in Cambridge.
Testimonials include:
‘Graham Irons - marvelously pragmatic and unflappable’.
‘A huge shout out to Alex Payton who supports us brilliantly. Alex has taken time and great care to understand our business really well. This means we can wholeheartedly rely on Alex to provide the best guidance which protects our business but also lands really authentically for our key stakeholders.'
‘Paula Bailey - sound advice but also takes time to understand our business and stay connected.'
‘Hannah Pryce is very easy to work with, quickly grasps the issues, and explains the advice in 'easy to understand' terms.'
‘Simon deMaid and his team are always great to deal with. Clear direction given in all circumstances. Credit to Howes Percival, they know their business very well and always approach in a supportive manner.’
‘Our main point of contact was Anna Bithrey who we found to be excellent throughout the whole process, always giving good prompt and sound advice and easy to talk.’
‘Sobia Ahmad - an excellent junior associate with strong technical skills, great work ethic, and a partner of the future.’
‘Closely aligning solutions with the desired outcome weighing up all of the risk/cost and cultural factors that are associated with the case. Jonathan Mumby is a stand out contact that we use who is very responsive and keeps you informed and updated throughout the management of a case. Jonathan is knowledgeable and manages to explain the complexities in a very relatable way.’
‘The Team at Howes Percival are outstanding in their field. Their focus and skill at building great relationships with our business and understanding how we operate makes a key difference every day.'
‘Great balance of partners and associates. They understand our business and are very pragmatic and practical.'
‘Dedicated resource partnership - working with key people who understand our business.’
‘A very capable Employment team who are responsive and very helpful commercial advice provided. I have also valued the employment updates that have been provided by the team.’
‘Wide scope of capabilities and expertise in all areas. Key strength is commerciality and understanding business challenges and needs.’
‘They work as part of your team, where you can tap into their expertise when required, and they seamlessly integrate. Simon deMaid is our main contact and always available to provide advice and connect us with the experts within their business.’
‘The focus on commercially based solutions taking into account the requirements of the business and the risk associated with the case.’
If you would like any further information about the team or the services that we provide then please contact our Head of Employment, Paula Bailey, on 0116 247 3518 / [javascript protected email address].
